I remember it very clearly when it happened. One day, while taking a brief pause to take the dog for a walk, a wave of extreme fatigue and anxiety suddenly overtook me. I could hardly take another step and don’t even know how I managed to slowly find my way home and straight into bed. Super scared about what these mystery symptoms that were taking over my body could be, I knew all I could do in that moment was rest. I would later find out that what I was feeling were all symptoms of adrenal fatigue, aka BURNOUT.
Is your intuition giving you a gentle nudge that you may need to dedicate a bit more time incorporating self-care into your daily work schedule? Do you want to grow and manage your business while also taking care of YOU? Growing a successful business without pushing and achieving sounds far too counterintuitive. But I’m here to share some supporting self-care tips that prove you can not only avoid burnout before it hits you, but also cultivate a thriving, successful wellness business.
Yes, I was busy, juggling teaching multiple Pilates classes a day along with my part-time “day-job,” but I had overall felt just fine. When these new symptoms overtook me it was scary and confusing, but I now know that hundreds of thousands of women experience burnout yearly, especially nowadays with our busy schedules and striving, go-getter cultural mentality. And we wellness entrepreneurs, who are more often in giving mode rather than receiving mode, are particularly susceptible. I get it and I see you. Because I’ve been there too.
My Top Self-Care Tips for Avoiding Burnout encompass a holistic mind, body and spirit approach. From proper nutrition to being mindful of your thoughts, my wish for you is that, by incorporating these nurturing tips, you’ll be able to avoid burnout while also thriving as your full wellpreneur #bossbabe self. It is not only possible, but essential.
Body – Nutrition and Belly Love
Starting off my holistic approach to self-care is a focus on our physical health, body’s needs and equilibrium. With a healthy tummy and proper nutrition, we can maintain an optimal bodily state for preventing burnout.
Gut health. The first pillar of self-care starts with our physical body, from the inside out. I’ve always loved following a healthy, whole foods diet, and I know that if you’re working in the wellness industry, you are already in the loop! But even deeper than what we eat, the quality of our digestion and healthy gut bacteria is vital for proper nutrition absorption, hormonal balance, nervous system regulation, detoxification and mental well-being. Only recently has science begun to uncover the gut-brain connection and the importance of maintaining a healthy tummy.
I recommend working with a Functional Medicine Practitioner, Nutritionist or Homeopath to guide you in testing your unique microbiome, fulfilling proper dietary needs and prescribing any supportive supplements for your body. This was a HUGE factor in strengthening my system post-burnout.
Adaptogens. Another helpful tip to consider for supporting your body through a busy entrepreneur schedule is incorporating adaptogens to your day. These powerful stress-combatting herbs (like ashwagandha or rhodiola) support the nervous system, adrenal glands, overall endurance, focus and healthy stress levels. Dr. Brenda Powell, Co-Medical Director of the Center for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Institute, explains that when you consume adaptogens, “you’re training your body to handle the effects of stress. They’re meant to bring us back to the middle.” Whether taken as a tea, pill, tincture, or powder, adaptogens are definitely worth considering for self-care as you manage your business. Disclaimer: As with gut health, consult your holistic medical practitioner before starting any new supplement.
Conscious caffeine habits. Ohhhh my goodness, now I know firsthand how sensitive a subject caffeine can be. It’s oftentimes the hardest habit to manage because it’s just oh so delicious! Yes, there are a slew of benefits to caffeine, and it affects everyone’s body differently, so it’s important to really tune into your own system’s needs. But I can say that beginning to monitor my own personal caffeine consumption habits has been so important for avoiding burnout. Some tips that helped me include:
- A full caffeine detox for at least 2 weeks to reset your body and cravings (I empathize with you, I know this isn’t easy but it’s SO worth it).
- If you are including coffee in your daily routine, try limiting your intake to one cup a day, preferably mid-morning when your body has had time to wake up on it’s own, yet early enough to still get a good night’s sleep. Around 11am is my sweet zone!
- Matcha. If needing a caffeine pick-me-up, I find that matcha provides similar mental focus benefits along with a longer-sustained energy boost without the crash that often comes with coffee. The health benefits of matcha are very extensive if you need some more convincing.
I’m here to share some supporting self-care tips that prove you can not only avoid burnout before it hits you, but also cultivate a thriving, successful wellness business.
Mind – Mental Wellbeing and Clarity
We simply cannot lead a thriving business without utmost focus, clear-thinking and mental wellbeing. One of the main symptoms of my burnout was serious brain fog along with anxiety and inability to concentrate. To help recover, and sustain a healthy mental state, the following have been essential to my wellbeing.
Meditation. I cannot stress (no pun intended) the importance of giving myself time for clear headspace as a key tool for self-care. There are so many styles, platforms, Apps, videos, recordings, etc. out there to help you maintain a daily meditation habit.
Lately, I’ve been practicing good-old complete silence, where I sit up straight and intentionally allow any and all thoughts or feelings to arise, without judgement and just pure conscious observation and acceptance. Sending love to anything arising and allowing everything to be seen and released. This instantly gets my vibrational, mental, and emotional state more aligned for the day. Morning is my preferred time to do so, but any moment of your day taken for a mental pause, even for just 5 minutes, will benefit you greatly.
Neural reprogramming. This work is a bit more in-depth, but oh so powerful and worth the time investment. To share the gist of it, our subconscious mind runs an estimated 95% of our lives without us even realizing. The subconscious includes limiting beliefs around our self-worth and stress pattern mentality that can lead to burnout. The best way to uncover these subconscious beliefs is by reprogramming them from the root cause in the subconscious mind.
My personal favorite neural reprogramming techniques come from Lacy Phillip’s To Be Magnetic. You can also seek out a Clinical Hypnotherapist to help you release and reprogram your ingrained belief systems.
Spirit – Nourish & Soothe
Rounding out my holistic approach for self-care for preventing burnout is a focus on keeping your soul happy and aligned throughout your professional endeavors.
Sound healing. The healing power of sound has dramatically affected my wellbeing for the better. My favorite modality of sound healing is through a sound bath with crystal quartz singing bowls. The different tones and vibrations emitted by these healing beauties instantly calm the mind and body, synching up the left and right hemispheres of the brain for a deeper meditative state. They also uncover and release any trapped lower energies or emotions in the body, deepen the mind and body connection and bring the body into a healing parasympathetic state. I’ve found they are the quickest and most efficient way to immediately reset my nervous system and overall energy.
Check your local area for any practitioners who lead sound bath sessions (many of whom are currently doing online sessions which are still very effective), or check out some free sound bowl meditations on Youtube. My favorites are on Crystal Cadence’s channel.
Breathwork. Breathwork techniques are such a powerful and simple way to check in with your emotions and calm yourself down after a stressful day. Start by relaxing your shoulders to turn off the body’s “fight-or-flight” mode, then take deep breaths down into your belly, allowing your diaphragm area to completely expand like an accordion while inhaling for 6 seconds, holding at the top for 2 seconds, and exhaling for 8 seconds.
Another favorite easy technique is Nadi Shodhana, or alternate nostril breathing. Hold down your left nostril, breath in deeply through the right one, hold your breath at the top then hold down the right side as you breathe out of your left nostril. Continue for 5-10 cycles.
IN CONCLUSION
The blessing of hitting that wall was that I really buckled down on self-care. Of assessing what MY needs were first, before going out into the world to give of myself to others. My new mantra became: to be more present and aligned physically, mentally, emotionally and soulfully so that my clients and those around me would benefit even greater.
By including my holistic approach towards the self-care of your body, mind and soul to prevent burnout, I know you’ll be able to not only thrive as a successful wellpreneur, but serve your clients at a higher vibration by giving them the most optimal version of you. All in the name of a bit of self love!
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